Oakley sets downtown changes in motionOakley sets downtown changes in motionSeptember 17, 2004
Some big changes are happening down Main Street in Oakley these days. The traffic signal on O'Hara Avenue and Main Street is set to be installed and operational within the next few months. It is nice to see the wheels of the city government working so fast to get this light up. While the Gehringer School light took several years, this light only took a matter of months.
Other changes include the sale of the property in downtown on Main Street across from the city offices and other businesses. The property runs alongside the railroad tracks and between Second and Fifth streets. A Walnut Creek engineering firm purchased the property with the idea of building a 24,000 square foot two-story building. The property will be planned for office-based businesses inside such as real estate firms, accountants and the like on the second floor, and retail-based businesses on the bottom floor. While presently there is a plan for parking in front of the building, a traditional lot on each side will also be built.
When the Highway 4 expansion in the downtown area is finally built, which according to redevelopment manager Barbara Mason is still 10 years down the line, it is likely that the parking in front of the building will be lost. Hopefully by then some other downtown parking alternative will be devised.
The building is expected to be oblong and creatively built, according to Mason, to fit the size limitation of the lot.
New construction is already underway for the new city offices. There seems to be some confusion about whether that property was slated for the new city hall or businesses. According to Mason it is both. The city, which had originally planned for portables to house their offices at first, found a developer who was willing to build the office space and then rent the property back to the city until the permanent city hall can be built.
Mason said this would allow city officials to be housed in the same building, instead of the current situation where the 40-plus employees are housed in five separate buildings.
Presently there are two buildings being built on the site. But there is planned to be a total of seven buildings on the property. The two current buildings will consist of 2,400 square feet for the city with an additional 1,200 square feet for retail space. Mason said they aren't able to disclose who will be moving into the property as of yet, because final contracts haven't been filled out, but they would be looking for utilities and maybe professional offices such as accountants, advertising agencies and the like. The idea is that these offices will be complementary to the city offices.
The city hopes that in four years their actual city hall will be built and they will be able to move in. It will be on the same property as the offices are now, in another building. The city hall is planned to be 24,000 square feet with an additional 3,000-square-foot council chambers.
Other businesses planned for the spot could include a restaurant and retail gift stores, a copy center and maybe even a place for other businesses that already are in town that could move to a new location with larger space.
The large oak trees on the corner are planned to stay on for landscaping. It may not look like much now, but Mason said the plan will make for big and wonderful changes for Oakley.
Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.
Distributed by the Contra Costa Times